First Phantom Gallery Opening Nicely Attended

In Superior Thursday evening the Phantom Galleries project officially kicked off with an open house that included greeters from the Chamber of Commerce. The adventure has begun.

Erika Mock, who has a space at Art in the Alley, is one of many who have rolled up their sleeves to bring about this union of the arts community, the business community and civil government. With months of groundwork now behind, it was nice to see the doors opened for this initial launch.

The reception was held at 1410 Tower Avenue. Jeredt Runions, another Phantom Galleries artist, has a small space across the street two blocks down, and a third artist kitty-korner from there. The artists here were Ken Kollodge and his wife Kathy. He's a photographer fascinated with the interplay of light and ice. She's a painter. He calls his work "Iced Light" which has an enigmatic quiality that I liked. The Kollodge's moved to Superior six years ago after three decades in Alaska.

In a thank you note to everyone involved with Phantom Galleries, Erika wrote, "It is very exciting to see the once vacant raw space at 1410 Tower Ave become vibrant with people as well as art. Each of our locations provides a different experience. Though 1302 and 1213 Tower provide window viewing only, we hope you find many elements with which to engage in all 3 of our current installations."

Red Interactive, which John Heino and I have been assembling, will be on display in the second round of Phantom Galleries later this fall. You can follow the development of that project on Facebook. You're even invited to join.

If you missed last Thursday's Phantom experience, save the date Thursday August 25th for the next event downtown Superior. Evidently they have some surprises in store for us.